Dragan Savić: Engineering a world-class payments platform
Centili
05.08.2020
Years ago, Dragan Savić was at the crossroads – should he pursue his love of sports or his talent for software development? Computers and coding prevailed, and several years later he found himself as one of the first employees at Centili. It was a bunch of talented people having a great time together and wanting to build something amazing. As the company grew along with its payments’ platform, Dragan moved up the ladder and changed several roles and positions.
-There is something truly unique and satisfying when you build an in-house product, and you see it go from zero to 2 million daily transactions in less than 5 years, he says.
Today, when Centili platform connects to 280+ mobile network operators and serves the likes of Wargaming, Badoo and Busuu, it is as best as it gets in terms of technologies that power it.
Centili developers work on the platform with zero downtime, and 24/7 availability for millions of transactions carried out smoothly every day. Developed in Java and deployed across multiple server clusters and containers, our platform is being prepared for the migration to cloud.
Developers’ work is sent to production almost instantly, which is not so common in the industry, but it is stimulating for high achievers, since the impact of your work is immediate. You get a huge level of autonomy, and every individual’s contribution is clearly seen in the end result. With that comes great responsibility – it can overwhelm at first, but in fact it is just a step forward on the road to further success and self-improvement, Dragan believes.
For two years in a row, Centili was rated Tier 1 direct carrier billing vendor by telecom operators from around the world. This year, it emerged as the best ranked DCB provider in ROCCO’s Innovators 2020 report, based on an independent survey of how MNOs perceive the capability for innovation in companies they partner with.
-People surrounding me here are the best people I can and want to work with, Dragan likes to say, as he admits to the fact that working for a company is often a lot about the people you work with.
Another thing you will likely take away after talking to him is that it’s important for software engineers to understand some of the business and have a broader view of what they build.
-I often say to people interviewing at Centili – here you must understand the basics of business. It is the kind of scope you might not get or see elsewhere. Maybe in some jobs you can deliver a project, move on to something else, and not look back or care who will maintain your work. With Centili it is different. People here sell, use, upgrade, and support what you build. And you have business development tied to your product.
-I see great value in mentorship, and that’s something we take seriously. Five or ten years of work with best-in-class people adds tremendous value to a career or a personal development path. Finally, you have to learn about flexibility, which is essential in the workplace today, no matter where you work.
-There is something truly unique and satisfying when you build an in-house product, and you see it go from zero to 2 million daily transactions in less than 5 years, he says.
Today, when Centili platform connects to 280+ mobile network operators and serves the likes of Wargaming, Badoo and Busuu, it is as best as it gets in terms of technologies that power it.
Centili developers work on the platform with zero downtime, and 24/7 availability for millions of transactions carried out smoothly every day. Developed in Java and deployed across multiple server clusters and containers, our platform is being prepared for the migration to cloud.
Developers’ work is sent to production almost instantly, which is not so common in the industry, but it is stimulating for high achievers, since the impact of your work is immediate. You get a huge level of autonomy, and every individual’s contribution is clearly seen in the end result. With that comes great responsibility – it can overwhelm at first, but in fact it is just a step forward on the road to further success and self-improvement, Dragan believes.
For two years in a row, Centili was rated Tier 1 direct carrier billing vendor by telecom operators from around the world. This year, it emerged as the best ranked DCB provider in ROCCO’s Innovators 2020 report, based on an independent survey of how MNOs perceive the capability for innovation in companies they partner with.
-People surrounding me here are the best people I can and want to work with, Dragan likes to say, as he admits to the fact that working for a company is often a lot about the people you work with.
Another thing you will likely take away after talking to him is that it’s important for software engineers to understand some of the business and have a broader view of what they build.
-I often say to people interviewing at Centili – here you must understand the basics of business. It is the kind of scope you might not get or see elsewhere. Maybe in some jobs you can deliver a project, move on to something else, and not look back or care who will maintain your work. With Centili it is different. People here sell, use, upgrade, and support what you build. And you have business development tied to your product.
-I see great value in mentorship, and that’s something we take seriously. Five or ten years of work with best-in-class people adds tremendous value to a career or a personal development path. Finally, you have to learn about flexibility, which is essential in the workplace today, no matter where you work.